Final Draft, a Calabasas, California-based software company that develops products and services for scriptwriters announced today the purchase of 17-year-old Forum Publishing. The company's flagship asset, a 25,000-circ magazine called Script, will shortly be overhauled to reach a broader audience.

"We've known them since their inception," says Final Draft CEO Marc Madnick. "We've done business alliances from the beginning. Basically, we dated before we got married."

Madnick declined to reveal the purchase price.

Madnick notes the deal will fulfill his goal of expanding his company's reach in services and information for the script market. Until now, Final Draft has primarily been a software developer, producing a template-driven word processing product of the same name that helps automate the creation of screenplays. "Our software is in everyone's hands and we wanted to get into other services -- this is another great way of doing that."

Final Draft, in conjunction with Script, had already been producing an annual event, called Scriptwriters Showcase, attracting close to 1,000 attendees.

Madnick says they'll relaunch the magazine to incorporate upgraded design changes as well as new editorial content to balance service with lifestyle. "We also want to celebrate what it's like to be a scriptwriter," he says.

The January issue will double its circulation to 50,000, with the ultimate goal, according to Madnick, of reaching 100,000. In 2008, Script will go from bimonthly to eight issues.